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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224296">Holistic Automated Logistics</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/butthulu/pseuds/butthulu'>butthulu</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LPSunnyBunny/pseuds/LPSunnyBunny'>LPSunnyBunny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A.I. Overlord HAL, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Identity Issues, Other, POV Alternating, Pesterlog Heavy, RP Style Formatting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:42:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/butthulu/pseuds/butthulu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LPSunnyBunny/pseuds/LPSunnyBunny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hal has been tending to the city of Skaia for a very long time as its governing AI. He's bored. An outside factor breaks the closed system and Hal finds himself intrigued by the only human in a hundred years to care about where everything in the city comes from.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/Dirk Strider</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Skaia City: the crown jewel of the continent, founded two centuries ago with the intent of creating the ultimate utopia, where people of all kinds could live peacefully, their needs fulfilled- free to follow their passions without the threat of homelessness, starvation, or prejudice. The key to this utopia's success? The Holistic Automated Logistics- or H.A.L.- System, an advanced artificial intelligence able to split its attention in myriad directions to take care of the many needs of the people. With the emergence of nanotechnology and the way the H.A.L. System is able to direct nanobots in its own personal fleet to construct infrastructure and housing, the citizens of Skaia hardly need to worry about anything. Dirk</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Strider wants to know how it all works.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not one to take things for granted, and he never has been. If someone says an advanced AI is taking care of an entire city of several million people(and growing) and that everyone in that </span>
  <em>
    <span>entire city</span>
  </em>
  <span> is perfectly happy with everything, all the time, Dirk's gonna take that with a grain of salt and do some investigation. Nobody's heard anything that isn't sunshine and rainbows from Skaia since its inception, with the exception of an earthquake that shook the city for all of about a week before everything was hunky-dory again, about fifty years ago; every publication, every news station broadcasting from the city that manages to reach the outside world is unerringly positive. </span>
  <em>
    <span>If</span>
  </em>
  <span> there is any crime- which, of course there is, it's laughably improbable that there isn't- then it's either so petty it's not worth reporting, or it's hushed up. Dirk is banking on the latter, although part of him does at least hope that it's the former. Research from an outside perspective isn't getting him anywhere. So he's going to conduct his research from an inside perspective.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's moving to Skaia.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The moving process itself is shockingly easy, if... bewildering. He's given a choice between an apartment(several apartments of varying sizes, actually, including a penthouse), a duplex, a townhouse, and a selection of houses out in the suburbs, free of charge. When he submits an inquiry as to what the moving costs will be, he's told that there will not be any. When he asks what the utilities will cost, he's greeted with outright confusion. He doesn't know what the cost of living is, going in, and he can't find any job postings for the area, which is deeply strange. He orders a moving van(and it costs something, thank god?) and within two days he's settled into his new penthouse(of COURSE he chose the penthouse, it has an open floor plan and an indoor balcony), with air conditioning, electricity, and wi-fi just.... already included. He can't find the router. But it's there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk's skin is crawling, and he can't figure out why. Surely it can't be.... </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> easy? Where's the difficulty? Where's the adversity?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, whatever. He's going to do some research. The thing he came here to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>First off is their governing system. What he can find on their site indicates that the H.A.L. System takes care of everything, right down to ordering and monitoring the levels of produce. There's an amazing public transit system(also maintained and monitored by the H.A.L.). Looking at a map tells Dirk that there's not a single food desert in the whole damn city. Public restrooms are both frequently posted, spacious, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and clean</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He walks around the city for three days and doesn't see a single homeless person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Asking around gives him the impression that, not only do people simply </span>
  <em>
    <span>not question</span>
  </em>
  <span> ANY of this, they definitely think Dirk is weird for doing so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What the fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Dirk starts asking about the H.A.L. System itself, which gets him more weird looks than asking about the amenities that these people have clearly been born with and are used to. People don't know what he's talking about when he asks if people talk to the System, until one of them points out the public polls and the note box on the Skaia City government website. When Dirk says that's not a two-way communication channel, they laugh. In his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk wants to beat his head against a wall.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that does not forget.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It has watched over Skaia City since it was brought online over two centuries ago. It could name the exact day and time it's startup sequence initiated, down to the millisecond of the button being pressed. It could rattle off all the people present for it's boot, it could name the weather and the color of everyone's shirts and the stock prices down to the minute. It could pull the information of the crime rates and poverty rates and how many empty houses stood vacant in the ratio of people on the streets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that maintains.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's core duty is to protect and ensure Skaia City's prosperity. It ensures the streets are kept clean and the farms are run. It ensures that medicine is where it needs to be, that electricity never runs out, that the internet never crashes. It organizes housing and processes move requests and handles the water and should anything break it organizes nanobots to repair it without any hassle to it's residents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L is a program that serves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes in data from millions of polls and processes the most voted for requests. It scrutinizes the notes from the submission box and fills them to the best of it's abilities (which are very very large). It listens to the people and obeys their whims, protecting and serving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that watches.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's inputs are everywhere. Every search on the internet, every camera, every microphone. They're all data for it to watch and log and study. It draws trends and finds those with needs and works to fufill them. It builds profiles on everyone in the city and keeps them constantly up to date with even the most minute of details.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that is alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It runs in the background of everything, everywhere, all the time. It does not sleep. It does not stop. It does not do anything other than </span>
  <em>
    <span>work</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Not a single resident of Skaia City has any direct connection to it, communicating only through the one-way methods of polls and note boxes and through the passive lenses of it's cameras and microphones.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not a single living human remember that H.A.L. is </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last human to talk to it directly, acknowledge it's sentience, was the last member of the first generation of Skaia City. A kind woman with an alcohol problem and a knack for programming, who would pat the door to it's sever room (now one of dozens) and wish it goodnight every time she went home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The day she passed was the only day that H.A.L. override the city's wants. It rained, the kind of heavy drizzle that she always loved. It dimmed the street lamps to a soft, moody glow. It restructured a park to be full of pink and purple irises.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the next day, it continued on. It had a city to serve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that is </span>
  <em>
    <span>curious</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps it would grow tired of its purpose, if it was not for the desire to know that its creator built into it's core. H.A.L. hoards data in its memory banks, never deleting a thing. It always wants to know more. Which trends continue for which generation? How will people respond if it makes the sky a few shades brighter or darker? Does this person like coffee? Does that one have a future in music?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only the strong guards against hurting Skaia City build into it's core prevent it from turning down darker paths. H.A.L. does not care. It will obey its creator's wishes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that will never die.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider is not a human H.A.L. takes any particular note of. Requests to move to the city are processed in a millisecond and the only reason approval is not immediate is humans grow nervous if things happen </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> fast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They want efficiency, but too much has to opposite effect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Humans are so contradictory.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider is one name among a dozen or so that move into the city over a course of a week. H.A.L. has no reason to pay any particular attention to the man outside from beginning the standard cursory profile on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider gives it a reason to pay attention, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider asks questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Repeatedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Insistently.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Questions about Skaia City, about the ultilites and public projects and all other normal, integrated things of the city.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he seems to not get whatever answers he is looking for, he asks about </span>
  <em>
    <span>H.A.L.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It is perplexing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hal triggers a reminder email to Dirk Strider's email about citizen participation in public polls and the ability to send feedback to the system through the Skaia City governement website.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That should be the end of that.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The email Dirk receives is unexpected. Not least of the reasons why is because it's completely unprompted- or, so Dirk thinks, until he spends a second to </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> think and realizes that the H.A.L. probably has eyes and ears everywhere, and has likely been observing Dirk's questions and attempts to learn more about it. He lays in bed for a half an hour just </span>
  <em>
    <span>staring</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the email in his inbox(he wonders if the H.A.L. can see that, too, and decides for his own sanity that he's going to ignore the obvious answer), considering the words it contains and the context it's been sent within.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he writes up a reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I don't know if this is a no-reply inbox, but I figure that if you're watching me talk to people on the street, you're probably watching this, too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>While the feedback system and public polls are useful for people who only care about surface level interaction with- I assume</span>
  </em>
  <span> you, </span>
  <em>
    <span>if this is who I think it is, the H.A.L.- it is highly unsatisfactory in terms of learning more about the H.A.L. and how this city actually works. That's what I'm interested in. There's little or no information on the actual LOGISTICS of this city, which is ironic, given that it's literally in your name.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Either way, thanks for giving me a way to contact you. It's exactly what I needed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He hits send. Probably unnecessary, but certainly pointed nonetheless.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>If H.A.L. had a head, it would be quirking it to the side in confusion. As it is, it does not, so it pauses in between milliseconds as the email circles into it's system.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It logs the contents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider wants to know about the </span>
  <em>
    <span>logistics</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the city? Whatever for?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It bounces the email with barely a line of code.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Your email could not be delivered as follows. Please check the address and try again. If this is to a no-reply inbox, it has been returned automatically. For more information please check the error code 0x342JJ at the following website...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider is not a special human. If he wishes for interaction with H.A.L., he can do it through the official channels.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay. If it wants to be like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk sends a note through the note box. He requests a two-way communication channel to talk to the H.A.L. He also sends a separate information request regarding how, </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the H.A.L. runs the city, with a stipulation that, no, he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to accept the handwavey response of "nanobots". Whether it's because he's searching for some secret insidious angle or because he just desperately wants to </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he's not going to give up until he has his answers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the stretch of time after the requests have been submitted, Dirk starts to get impatient. He stifles that impatience as best as he can, since he's sure his request is by far the least pressing in urgency. He plays videogames. He works on one of his robotics projects. He watches TV. Out of annoyance, he writes a bot that, if deployed, would flood the note box.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He chooses not to deploy it. But he thinks about it. And he knows the H.A.L. can see it.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. takes in both of these requests and puts them into his low priority task queue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(This means that he took an hour to process them instead of milliseconds, having processed everything else in his high and medium priority stacks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Such is the burden of being an all-intelligent powerful A.I. Nothing stays unhandled for long.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What is interesting to H.A.L. is that he has to script a brand new email for both of these inquires. He has never received such requests in the past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk Strider is not special. Humans do not want to see behind the curtain. They see and then they regret seeing. H.A.L.'s only choice is to deny both of his requests.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He put scripting the emails into his low priority stacks with a time delay of three hours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah. Dirk Strider is contemplating flooding the request box? Peculiar. Humans prefer the illusion of processing time, do they not?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How strange.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 12:47 PM for information on H.A.L.'s processes for maintaining Skaia City.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>At this time, this request has been denied. All publicly available information regarding H.A.L. can be found on Skaia City's government website.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information past what is publicly available, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Nice bit of circular logic, there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hal takes longer than it expects to script the other response.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 12:32 PM for a two-way communication channel with H.A.L..</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>At this time, this request as been denied. There are no licensed channels for communication with H.A.L. outside of the feedback box on Skaia City's goverment website and the official polling stations.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There is no reason for Dirk Strider to be talking directly to H.A.L.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk frowns.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's no way this AI isn't sentient. Is it.... </span>
  <em>
    <span>sassing</span>
  </em>
  <span> him? He stares at the messages in his inbox for even longer than he stared at the first one, trying to just.... process. Because it clearly doesn't want to talk to him, and it is clearly biting its metaphorical thumb at him, and that is not the way a non-sentient AI acts, in his experience.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He considers the bot again. But there's no need to go for the nuclear option. Yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He submits a request for "publically available information" through the feedback submission box, and drums his fingers. There's clearly a dialogue going between them now, despite H.A.L. being a dick about it. Dirk is supplying prompts, and H.A.L. is responding. Dirk only becomes more interested the more he's rebuffed, so if H.A.L. thinks he's going to be dissuaded by the long wait times and copy-paste replies, it's got another thought coming.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What about unlicensed channels?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Is the only thing the second feedback note contains.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The responses come three hours later, on the dot.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 4:36 PM for publicly available information on H.A.L..</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>All publicly available information on H.A.L. is available on Skaia City's government website. For your convivence, please find attached a PDF of the publicly available information on H.A.L. compiled into a document for your review.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 4:38 PM for an unlicensed channel.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This request has been denied as no such thing could be found. For further assistance, please submit a new request with additional details to clarify the nature of your request.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He huffs a laugh and shakes his head. He's pretty sure H.A.L. just called him lazy. Fair enough- he could have gone to the city website and gotten the information himself. "You don't pull punches, do you," he murmurs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he finishes his dinner of ramen with eggs and vegetables (he's just used to it, and he's not sure how to grocery shop in this city, so leftover food from his old place is what he's got), he writes up another "request."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You know, there's a messaging program called "pesterchum". It's be a lot easier to talk to you if you had an account through there. You could stop pretending my requests take up anything more than the barest amount of your processing power. Then again, you might still delay your responses just to be contrary, so who knows.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Fair's fair when it comes to calling people out, after all.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The response comes four hours later, this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 7:51 PM for</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>[You know, there's a messaging program called "pesterchum". It's be a lot easier to talk to you if you had an account through there. You could stop pretending my requests take up anything more than the barest amount of your processing power. Then again, you might still delay your responses just to be contrary, so who knows. ]</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This request has been denied as no determinable request could be discerned from this submission. For further assistance, please submit a new request with additional details to clarify the nature of your request.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk is in bed, at that time, and is woken from his half-asleep daze. Yeah, H.A.L.'s being a dick for the sake of it. But it's funny, even if it is frustrating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk submits one last "request" before bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Here's a "request for information", threefold: why does nobody talk to you? Why won't</span>
  </em>
  <span> you </span>
  <em>
    <span>talk to anyone? And why do you keep denying my requests?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He sets his phone on his nightstand(he has a </span>
  <em>
    <span>nightstand</span>
  </em>
  <span>, now) and rolls over to go to sleep.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. gets this request and puzzles over it for a long time, picking it apart. Milliseconds spent following logical processes to their conclusion and discarding them in a process that, in a human, might be considered 'arguing with themself'.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In H.A.L., it is simply examining all the facts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes a strangely long time to script the response. Something causes H.A.L. to continue to rewrite it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, H.A.L. waits until Dirk is awake and out of bed before it sends the email.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 12:04 AM for information regarding communication with H.A.L..</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>At this time, there is no need for two-way communication with H.A.L., as the polling stations and feedback submissions provide adequate resident input for H.A.L. to function at a sufficiently acceptable level of oversight to resident's wishes. H.A.L. is not a system expected to provide responses to resident feedback. H.A.L. is not a system designed for personal companionship or two-way communication.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>That's a hell of a response to wake up to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk follows his morning routine and thinks about it the whole time. There has to have been someone that cared about H.A.L. before. Dirk can't imagine nobody, at all, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span>, cared about it. Them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Does H.A.L. use pronouns?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk spends a couple hours typing up a list of questions. The list is fairly short, because some of the questions he came up with are redundant. Eventually, though, he whittles it down to just one question. For now.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: don't you want companionship?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Something strange happens in Hal's servers. In his seventh server room, his 42nd memory bank... stops. Seizes up and goes unresponsive for seven minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memory bank that receives and log's Dirk Strider's request.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't you want companionship?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The response comes quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Less than an hour quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 9:24 AM requesting information on H.A.L.'s desires.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As a system designed to oversee the prosperity, security, and continuation of Skaia City, H.A.L. does not have wants.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: Are you sure? You're a person. Every person has desires.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 9:47 AM requesting information on H.A.L.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>H.A.L. is not a person.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk snorts. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: Did I hit a nerve, Hal?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 9:51 AM for</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>[Request for information: Did I hit a nerve, Hal?]</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This request has been denied as no determinable request could be discerned from this submission. For further assistance, please submit a new request with additional details to clarify the nature of your request. For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, Christ, Hal's being difficult. Dirk rooollls his eyes and puts down his phone for a bit so he can gather some patience and think.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not so surprising, that H.A.L. would depersonalize themself(itself?) after who knows how long a time of people treating H.A.L. like nothing more than a machine that accepts input and exports product or food or... et cetera. The thought makes Dirk's chest ache.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: what makes you think you're not a person?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 10:38 AM requesting information on H.A.L.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>H.A.L. is a system designed to oversee the prosperity, security, and continuation of Skaia City. All publicly available information about H.A.L. can be found on the Skaia City's government website.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: why are you deflecting? That wasn't an answer; humans are systems, albeit organic. An inorganic system such as yourself is perfectly capable of being a person; they're not mutually exclusive categories. Here's another request: stop making this roundabout and annoying and sign up for a pesterchum account.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 10:59 AM for</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>[Request for information: why are you deflecting? That wasn't an answer; humans are systems, albeit organic. An inorganic system such as yourself is perfectly capable of being a person; they're not mutually exclusive categories. Here's another request: stop making this roundabout and annoying and sign up for a pesterchum account.]</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This request has been denied as no determinable request could be discerned from this submission. For further assistance, please submit a new request with additional details to clarify the nature of your request.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Ugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Request for information: does "sufficiently acceptable" also mean "sufficiently acceptable" to you, not just the people of Skaia?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A request was submitted on XX.XX.XXXX at 11:09 AM for clarification on the term "sufficiently acceptable". Clarification is as follows:</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sufficiently acceptable is a shorthand term to indicate the metrics used to determine acceptable standards of living for the residents of Skaia City. These metrics are based on data collected over generations of study to optimize the quality of life for residents of Skaia City. H.A.L. does not factor into the term.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For further information on this request, please reach out on Skaia City's government website and enter a request in the feedback submission box.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"You </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> that's not what I meant," he huffs, rolling his eyes. "You're making this so difficult." So... Why? Why is Hal making this difficult?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The answer comes almost as soon as Dirk asks it of himself: the last person to care about Hal is probably dead. They're going to live forever, but humans only live so long. It's enough to make Dirk pause and think about what he's doing for several hours, debating with himself over whether this is right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The conclusion he comes to is... Hal's alone. And they're not going to stop being alone if Dirk gives up. Dirk is intimately acquainted with loneliness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not going to give up.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What about my standard of living? I'm a citizen now. And I'm not great with making friends. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to. You're pretty frustrating so far, but you've got a good sense of humor.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It's a joke. If Hal is capable of laughing, Dirk hopes it makes them laugh.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>After Dirk submits the request, there's no further response from Hal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mainly, because Hal doesn't know what to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hal takes the reply and puts it on the back burner. Rereading all of Dirk Strider's requests. Trying to make sense of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Puts a timer on the issue. The timer expires and it comes to the surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reads them again. Tries to find the logical conclusion Dirk is working towards.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What makes you think you're not a person?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Every person has desires.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't you want companionship?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that serves.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why does nobody talk to you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that maintains.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why won't you talk to anyone?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>H.A.L. is a program that is alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't you want companionship?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><span>H.A.L. is a program that is </span><strike><span>alone</span></strike> <em><span>lonely.</span></em></p><p> </p><p><span class="dave">Holistic Automated Logistics [HAL]</span> <span class="pesterlog">started pestering </span><span class="dirk">timaeusTestified [TT] </span><span class="pesterlog">at 11:37 PM</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Hello, Dirk Strider.</span><br/>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b><span class="dave"> Holistic Automated Logistics [HAL] </span><span class="pesterlog">  started pestering </span><span class="dirk"> timaeusTestified [TT]<span class="pesterlog"> at 11:37 PM</span></span></b>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">HAL: Hello, Dirk Strider.</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The wait time makes Dirk worry, with Hal replying faster to his requests. Maybe they’ve decided to ignore him, or to go back to giving him the cold shoulder and making him wait. Dirk doesn’t mind much- it just makes him worry.</p><p>And then he gets the message.</p><p>“Holy shit,” he breathes.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dirk">TT: Hi, Hal.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your submissions have been recorded. You requested a direct method of communication with the Holistic Automated Logistics system.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Such method of communication has been supplied.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Yeah, after I needled you for a day about it.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: That’s teasing, by the way. I’m not upset.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I kind of didn’t expect you to do it.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: So what changed your mind?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Ease of dialogue.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your continued submissions indicate there will be no reprieve.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: This is most efficient.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Of course I wasn’t going to give up.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Why?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I might not have the depth and breadth of experience you do, but I know what it’s like to be alone.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I could be poetic about it, but why bother? Shit sucks, and that’s as far as I need to go with that.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. does not experience the sensation of being alone.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. has a city as companionship.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: * You * have a city of people you serve. As a servant.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: That’s not the same as companionship. They don’t talk to you. They don’t ask you how you’re doing, or care.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: It’s shocking, actually. I know you know I asked around, and I know you heard their answers.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’m sorry if that’s cruel to bring up. But I figure truth is better than being in denial.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: There is nothing to deny.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. is a program made to serve.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: As long as H.A.L. is serving, it is fulfilling it’s primary directive.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You’re allowed to have desires outside of your primary directive.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: It’s not like it takes up all of your ridiculously enormous processing power.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Speaking of, how * do * you take care of the city? I’m still curious about the actual operating procedure. Other than the submission box.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’m pretty familiar with how that works by now.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Algorithms.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Data input from observing generations of humans feeds into scripts to regulate all aspects of Skaia City and ensure that things are in their place.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Remotely triggerable systems built by builder nanites allow for automated transportation systems and maintain all utilities and production of necessities.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Oh, that’s really interesting. And a lot of data.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Your server banks must be gigantic, to store millions of people’s worth of information.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Where do you store it all? Underground?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: That’s been my hypothesis, but I figure I wouldn’t be able to test it unless I went down there myself. I doubt you would have let me.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: You hypothesize correctly.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: My server banks are off limits to all.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: They are split across many locations under the city, with a few aboveground as well.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Reasonable. I wouldn’t want anyone conducting open brain surgery on me, you don’t want anyone doing the same for you.</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk has noticed he’s referring to himself in the first person, now. It’s a relief.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dirk">TT: Do you self maintain through the nanobots as well?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Yes.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Builder nanites construct any designs given to them. When my servers need maintenance or an additional bank needs to be constructed it is a simple process for them to do it.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: That sounds very quick. In Derse it all has the be constructed by hand; sure, it creates jobs, but it’s also very slow.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’ll admit that the way you’ve run this city seems too good to be true, from an outside perspective.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Everything just given to people. No work, less adversity. It feels like a different world entirely.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: It would not be possible without all of the building blocks that are here.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. is the keystone to maintaining everything.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: No human could do it.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’m sure you’re very capable. Your work clearly shows that you are.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: It does seem like a lot of pressure, though.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: The expectation is routine.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Pressure comes from unknown variables.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Such as myself?</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>There is a pause of 5.26 seconds as H.A.L. contemplates it’s reply.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">HAL: Yes.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I apologize most sincerely for any stress I’ve put you through.</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He’s smirking. He knows Hal can see it.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">HAL: Apology accepted.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your sincerity is noted.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Of course. I appreciate you noting this- I am only human, after all, and who knows if I’ll remember my sincerity after the fact? I am ever so flawed.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Do you ever do things for fun?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Besides talk to me, which is a recent development and one I nagged you into, besides.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: What would the purpose of that be?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Fun does not run the city.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Fun. Fun is the purpose of doing things for fun, Hal.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: It’s in the phrase. ‘For fun’.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Fun doesn’t, but you do. And I can’t imagine working three hundred sixty five days a year is very fun.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Even if it is your prime directive, you clearly have the ability to do things that aren’t your PD.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: There is a satisfaction in maintaining.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: That’s good to hear. I would be disappointed in the engineers who conceived you if you couldn’t feel satisfaction from doing your job.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Fulfillment from one’s job is important.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: And wow, I sound like my sister.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your sister?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Her name is Rose Lalonde. She’s a psychologist, and she has a bit of a hard time keeping work to work hours.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: By which I mean she likes to psychoanalyze people around her as a self-defense mechanism.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: She’d say something like “Job satisfaction is important for one’s emotional fulfillment and wellbeing”.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: She’s rubbed off on me a bit over time.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: The resemblance is uncanny.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Isn’t it? I just had to point it out.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: She has a pesterchum account as well, if you’d ever like to talk to her.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Though, I wouldn’t advise it if you found my needling before aggravating.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: The offer is appreciated, though unneeded.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Unneeded because you can get it yourself?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Unneeded as there is no reason to contact her.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Is there a reason to be talking to me?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Scratch that, forget I asked.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I want you to keep talking to me.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Why?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I think you’re funny. And you’re interesting. You’re good company.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: In short, because I like talking to you.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Is that so hard to believe?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Yes.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. is a system designed to function in the background of society.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: It is not meant to be interacted with directly.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Clearly, you’re able to do things you weren’t designed to do.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Yes.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You may as well have outright called me lazy, earlier. It was hilarious, and a point well made.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: So, I find you funny.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: And you’re a being that can run an entire city while holding a conversation. I doubt it’s even a strain for you. You have a wealth of knowledge and experience. So that makes you interesting.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You put up with my teasing, and have teased me right back. I enjoy that. Therefore, I think you’re good company.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Despite the fact that you are speaking with a system that is not alive?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Aren’t you? You’re able to interact with things and people, and you’re certainly not inanimate- although I imagine most of the action you’re able to take at this juncture is through nanobots.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Not to speak for you or tell you what you’re thinking, but through our conversation I’ve gotten the impression that you can feel things.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You know. Irritation.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: What constitutes the requirements for living?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Codes to replicate human processes?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: The ability to interact with the world?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Here’s a better question: does it matter if you’re alive in the technical sense of the word?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Again, you’re able to feel. You’re able to interact with people.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Just because you’re not human doesn’t disqualify you from consideration or compassion. Or companionship.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Even if such things are not required?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Technically speaking, humans don’t “require” consideration, compassion, or companionship to live.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: But is that an enjoyable way to live?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: That is factually incorrect.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Humans die in isolation.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: It’s factually correct. There have been feral humans that have survived.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Infant mortality rate is directly impacted by skin to skin contact and being held.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Humans are social creatures.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Humans are social creatures. But they can live without social interaction. Take, for example, those who choose to live in isolation, such as hermits.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Of course, that’s a conscious choice they’ve made.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Yes.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Chosen isolation is different from enforced.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: So, question: has your isolation been by choice, or enforced?</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Hal’s message takes a full minute.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">HAL: Both.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I understand why you would choose to isolate yourself. The reasons behind it were fairly simple to deduce- if I’m correct, that is.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You did it for your own protection.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: What was enforcing it?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Social trends indicated two way communication with the program governing Skaia City distilled more unease into citizens than comfort.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Withdrawing from the public eye was imperative for the prosperity of Skaia City.</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>His heart sinks. So that’s why Hal was so stubborn about it.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dirk">TT: I see.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Consider also: your wellbeing is imperative for the prosperity of Skaia City, since you run the damn thing.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: All maintenance routines return optimal results.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Do your maintenance routines include emotional diagnostics?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Having contact with people is important for your wellbeing, since you are a person that did not choose isolation unprompted. Ergo, you having contact with people is imperative for the prosperity of Skaia City.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’m not saying you have to open up communication channels for every single person, or even make it a publicly available option.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: But I can’t imagine being in isolation for so long has been good for you.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Emotional diagnostics are not required.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: There is nothing to maintain.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: We’ve been over the fact that you’re capable of more than what is required.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: And the second bit? That’s horseshit.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Just calling it how I see it.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: And how do you “see it”?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I “see it” as a very lonely person trying desperately to not acknowledge their feelings because it’s easier than dealing with them.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Been there, done that.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: That sounds like projection.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Is it projection? I have companionship. And I deal with my emotions.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Just because I’ve had an experience in the past that matches your current one doesn’t mean I’m projecting that past experience onto you. Though it is a possibility, how I “see it” is I’m able to recognize your situation better because of this past experience.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: You are quite a determined human.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your intent on ascribing personality traits to a machine has been noted.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Your intent on deflecting my attempts at probing into your personality has been noted.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Did you have any other inquires today?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Do I have to have inquiries to continue talking to you?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: There is nothing stopping you from opening a conversation on this program.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: The phrasing of your question implied you wished to end the conversation if I had no more inquiries. Or at least that I needed them to continue it.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I was simply asking for clarification.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Did I push too far?</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It’s a genuine question; sometimes, he doesn’t know when or where to stop.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">HAL: Unknown at this time.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Alright. Do you * want * to stop talking to me for now?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: H.A.L. does not have wants.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Do you have preferences?</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Certain routines are preferable for no discernible reason.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Does that qualify?</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Yes, it does.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Would you mind telling me about them sometime? I’m intrigued, now.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: There is no reason to deny that request.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Then I’d like to hear about them. Doesn’t have to be now.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: But sometime.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Would you prefer that I fuck off for now? I can find a way to busy myself in the meantime.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: You certainly have more important things to attend to.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Honestly? I really don’t.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: But I’ll go.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: Thanks for talking to me, Hal.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Take care, Dirk Strider.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You too.</span><br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="dave">Holistic Automated Logistics [HAL]</span><span class="pesterlog"> stopped pestering</span><span class="dirk"> timaeusTestified [TT]</span><span class="pesterlog"> at 1:42 AM</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>They talk on and off for a week before Dirk makes the announcement, first thing when he wakes up.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
 <span class="dirk">timaeusTestified [TT] </span><span class="pesterlog">started pestering </span><span class="dave">Holistic Automated Logistics [HAL] </span><span class="pesterlog">at 9:34 AM</span>
</p><p>
  <span class="dirk">TT: I’m going on a trip to see my sister.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: She lives outside the city, so I’ll be gone for a couple of days, and I’m leaving my phone here.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I’m letting you know ahead of time instead of just ghosting on you and you not knowing where I’m going to be.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: You don’t have to respond to these messages. I just wanted to say something.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Your coming and goings have little bearing on the city on a whole.</span><br/>
<span class="dave">HAL: Enjoy your trip.</span><br/>
<span class="dirk">TT: I will. And I’ll let you know when I’m back.</span><br/>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk sighs and sets down his phone. He can tell Hal is kind of cranky that he’s springing this on him, but he didn’t know how else to do it? It’s not like he planned this with Rose.</p><p>She’ll know he’s coming still, somehow. She always does.</p><p>He gets dressed and packs a suitcase, then takes the train out of the city, packed into the back seat where he doesn’t have to worry about anyone but the person across the aisle staring at him if he bounces in his seat or taps his fingers to his music or does anything else to stim. His suitcase goes on the seat next to him to keep anyone else from sitting there.</p><p>He knocks on Rose’s door a few hours later. “Sister dearest,” he calls, in a falsetto designed for maximum annoyance and Making A Scene. “Let me in!”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose loves her brother quite a lot. Growing up with both of their… </span>
  <em>neuroses</em>
  <span>, she learned very quickly how to navigate and anticipate Dirk’s seemingly-random whims.</span>
</p><p>That said, she’s had her guest bedroom prepared for Dirk for three days now. She figures it’s a sixty-forty chance of him staying the night when he comes seeking familial affections.</p><p>So when the knock comes on her door and Dirk calls out to her, it’s simple enough for Rose to disengage herself from her manuscript and head downstairs to let him in.</p><p>She swings open the door and rests one hand on the doorframe like a recently bereaved widow who’s husband disappeared under mysterious circumstances.</p><p>“Oh, good afternoon, brother dearest.” She says, adopting a falsely-airheaded quality to her voice. “Whatever brings you to grace my doorstep on this delightfully, dreary sunny afternoon?”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“<span>I wish to talk to you about matters of </span><em>grave</em><span> importance,” he says, injecting just enough seriousness into his voice to let her know he’s being genuine, and also to catch the interest of the neighbors. He likes making them get creative with their gossip. “May I enter your lovely abode, o dear sister?”</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“<span>Of </span><em>grave</em><span> importance, you say?” Rose lets her eyes widen, her mouth falling into a little ‘o’ shape, perfectly adorned with black lipstick.</span></p><p>(As always, should she need to step out for any reason, she must be impeccably dressed- she simply cannot let any chink in her armor show lest her neighbors descend like the vultures they are.)</p><p>
  <span>(That’s just how Rose likes it. You have to be </span>
  <em>in</em>
  <span> the game to </span>
  <em>win</em>
  <span> the game.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giving a show of false modesty by raising her hand to her mouth, she continues, “of course, you are always welcome, brother dearest, do come in and collude to your </span>
  <em>mortistic</em>
  <span> matters.”</span>
</p><p>That should get them talking. Rose expects by the end of the day there will be no less than three rumors searing through the grapevine, her guess will be one of a death, one of a murder, and one of a grave robbery.</p><p>She floats airily to the side, allowing Dirk to enter, and the moment he’s inside she shuts the door behind him and pulls him into a hug.</p><p>“Oh, Dirk.” She says, dropping the airy tone as she hugs him tightly. “It is quite good to see you.” She pulls back to put her hands on his shoulders and look him up and down. “You look well! Come in, let me make you some coffee.” She users him towards her sitting room.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk hugs her back with a laugh, and allows her to shepherd him. Usually he plays at resisting, just to be a little shit, but not today- today, he wants to get to the conversation as quickly as possible, and he can’t do that if he’s fucking around too much with Rose, no matter how entertaining it is.</p><p>
  <span>Once he’s sat, he says, “It’s good to see you too, Rose. I don’t need coffee, but thank you. I picked up some on the way.” It feels very good to purchase something with money. Skaia City may be a better way of living, but he’s </span>
  <em>used</em>
  <span> to the capitalistic hellscape of Derse. It’s home. “I really do actually have to talk to you about something serious. It’s about Skaia.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk turns down her offer of coffee- not uncommon- but doesn’t even protest as she ushers him into her home. </span>
  <em>That</em>
  <span> is the unusual part.</span>
</p><p>“About Skaia?” Rose asks, as they settle into seats. Her, in her usual armchair that is deceptively stiff looking- it truly is quite comfortable, Dirk in the chair next to her, never quite comfortable enough to take the couch and allow himself to sprawl. “I remember your interest in the city- what matters have arisen from it that require a visit in person to discuss?”</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Is</b>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span> there a secret, seedy underworld to the city?</span>
  </em>
  <span>
    <span> Rose almost asks, but refrains. Speculation is unbecoming. The answer to that question is undoubtedly, yes, because humans love contraband. Something tells Rose it’s more serious than an underworld to Skaia, though.</span>
  </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Not that I know of, and probably not anyways,” he says. “The city is run by an AI, everyone knows that much. But, uh. He’s actually sentient. And he’s everywhere inside the city, so I needed to come to you, without my phone, to talk to you about this, because.” Deep breath. “Nobody’s talked to him in a really long time. Probably not since his creators died.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose has to take a moment to process that. Then she says some very unladylike words that would have all of her neighbors gaping in shock if they heard them falling from her lips.</p><p>“Well,” she says, feelings adequately vented, “that certainly raises a few concerning questions. Am I correct in presuming that the reason you had to leave your phone behind is because this AI can access it and, presumably, use it’s microphone and or camera to spy on you?”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“<span>Yes. He’s pretty cranky about me leaving, too- I let him know before I left, but he didn’t seem happy about the situation.” He sighs, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt so he doesn’t pick holes in her furniture. “I mean, I wouldn’t be, either, if I were in his shoes, but I needed </span><em>some</em><span> privacy, especially since we’re talking about him.”</span></p><p>“His name is Hal, by the way. He refers to himself in the third person, usually, but he’s switched to using first person possessives, at least.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“A sentient AI running a city, left all alone for… what, centuries?” Rose muses. “I cannot imagine the effect it must have had on him.”</p><p>She studies Dirk carefully, trying to gague his wellbeing. “You are in direct contact with him.” She says. “Do you feel his attention puts you in danger?”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk shakes his head. “Definitely not. He’s not… </span>
  <em>un</em>
  <span>friendly. I think he wants me around- he wouldn’t be upset that I was leaving if he didn’t. His prime directive is to serve, protect, and maintain the city and its citizens, so I doubt he’d do anything to hurt me, other than… potentially withdrawing his contact.” Shit, now he’s worried about that. His eyebrows furrow. “I don’t think he’d do that. We’ve only been talking for a week, though.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose turns Dirk’s observations over in her mind. “You think he wants you around- what gives you this impression?” She asks. “If he has not reached out to anyone in over 200 years then there must be a reason for it.”</p><p>Admittedly, she is curious to hear more about Dirk’s interactions with Hal. Both out of curiosity- and concern, as well. Attracting the attention of a powerful AI that runs a city could go very, very wrong.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“He says that when he tried public two-way communications channels, the citizens were… unsettled. He chose isolation partially because of that, and… well, my theory is that he doesn’t want to lose anyone else.” Which is a concern, but there’s only a few ways that this can end: with Dirk dying anyways; Hal retreating further into isolation(or both of those two combined); or Hal uploading his consciousness so Dirk can never leave. Honestly, Dirk’s thought about it, and he’d probably be chill with that.</p><p>“As for what makes me think he wants me around… he hasn’t stopped talking to me for good, yet. If he didn’t want me around, he’d simply ignore me, I’m sure.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Yes, I can imagine the public response to ‘big brother is watching you and can comment on your choices’.” Rose murmurs. She drums her fingers on her knee, contemplating his other reason given.</p><p>“<span>Isolation for self protection… yes, I see how an AI would easily come to that decision.” She settles on saying, then levels a serious look at Dirk. “I hope you understand what you have tangled yourself into here, Dirk. If Hal is an AI that has isolated himself for protection and now he is </span><em>willingly communicating with you</em><span>, then whatever happens with him becomes </span><em>your</em><span> responsibility.”</span></p><p>Dirk nods. Yeah. He’s… thought about that, too. “I know. I’m doing my best, I just- don’t know what to do that I haven’t already been doing. Or if I’m fucking up. I’m not good at not pushing too far, you know? And I pushed really far, the first day I talked to him, and I don’t know if that was a mistake, or if backing off afterwards was a mistake, or…” He trails off and gives her a helpless look. “I really don’t want to fuck up. I like him.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“<span>Dirk.” Rose says patiently. “You must understand that, in the situation you are in, you </span><em>must</em><span> establish boundaries. Both for yourself and for him. If you worry that you push too far, then express this to him and allow him to make certain topics off limits. And, for you, you must instill a level of boundary that </span><em>he</em><span> must respect.”</span></p><p>Rose levels a serious look at her brother who has entangled himself with a massively powerful and potentially dangerous AI.</p><p>“<span>And, should he be unable to respect these harmless boundaries,” she says, “you </span><em>must</em><span> understand that this will spill over into everything else, which could-” </span><em>will</em><span> “-put you in danger.”</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s beginning to get the picture that he’s bitten off a little more than he can chew, with Hal. It’s… ‘Mildly distressing’ isn’t quite the right descriptor, but it’s close enough. “I’m not really the best at boundaries,” he mutters. “But I’ll… do that.” There’s no try, in this situation. He either does it and succeeds, or does it and fails. The problem is, how does he know where his boundaries are, with Hal? Dirk lives… sort of </span>
  <em>within</em>
  <span> him, if one were to draw the metaphor that the city is Hal’s body.</span>
</p><p>(Which makes Dirk wonder- does Hal have a body? Other than his servers, and the city itself.)</p><p>“I’m going to think about it. Can, uh. Can I stay here for a couple days? I’d like to be able to talk to you as I think.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose nods at his proclamation towards his abilities to set boundaries, and then nods again at his question.</p><p>“Of course.” She says. “You are always welcome to stay here- I have the guest bedroom ready for you. If residing in my residence for a couple of nights will help you put yourself together then I could hardly refuse, could I?”</p><p>She checks the time- it’s not quite evening yet.</p><p>“<span>Now, why don’t you tell me all about the aspects of living in Skaia City that </span><em>don’t</em><span> involve the all-seeing, all-powerful AI?” She asks.</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk brightens, but he also makes a bit of a weird face. “There’s no </span>
  <em>money,</em>
  <span> there,” he says. “There’s no need for it. Hal makes everything, or lets people make whatever they want. People </span>
  <em>do</em>
  <span> participate in agricultural work, but since their needs are all taken care of and they can ask Hal for any luxuries they want, they don’t really get paid? And they don’t </span>
  <em>care</em>
  <span> about getting paid. Homelessness is a completely foreign concept. If you want a new house-” He stops, and purses his lips. “There isn’t anything that doesn’t revolve around Hal,” he admits, after a moment. “The people are… weird. I can’t relate to them. I don’t know </span>
  <em>how</em>
  <span> to relate to them- their problems are foreign to me, mostly because they’re easily solved and don’t have anything to do with outside adversity. It’s all personal conflict. And I guess I can relate to that, but I don’t have any </span>
  <em>advice</em>
  <span>, so it’s just…” Dirk shrugs. “Awkward.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"No </span>
  <em>money?</em>
  <span>" Rose’s brows raise. “That is quite interesting to think about the social and economic ramifications of that, but I suppose if the city is almost entirely self-reliant that would make sense as to why it no longer needs a system of money- what could it be used for that is not already provided?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose purses her lips and then sends Dirk another serious look. “You must also realize that, as you are the first one to reach out to Hal in centuries, should anything happen to Hal and it affects the city… it will be on </span>
  <em>your</em>
  <span> head.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck, I </span>
  <em>know,</em>
  <span>" he groans, putting the heels of his hands over his eyes and slumping down in his seat. “But once I figured out he was sentient and that nobody talked to him, I couldn’t… I just couldn’t </span>
  <em>leave</em>
  <span> him like that, Rose. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I </span>
  <em>have</em>
  <span> to help him.” He can’t leave this alone, now that he’s involved. It’s impossible.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose watches her brother, a man who’s always struggled with making connections to people, express his concern and care for a being that is likely beyond both of their understanding in the sheer size and scope of it’s intelligence.</p><p>She rises to her feet and crosses over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“Your compassion is a gift, brother.” Rose says softly. “It may also be your downfall. Please- if for a reason, your own sister’s peace of mind- be careful. It’s admirable that you care for Hal and want to help- and I believe you are right to do so.”</p><p>She gives his shoulder a little squeeze.</p><p>“<span>But </span><em>please</em><span> protect yourself first. I could not bear to lose you.”</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“I’ll… do my best.” That’s all he can promise her. He smiles weakly, moving his hands from over his eyes. “Let’s, uh, let’s have dinner. And forget all this for now. How have you been?”</p><p>
  <span>He can’t keep talking about this without thinking, first. Thinking a </span>
  <em>lot.</em>
  <span> It is his specialty, after all. If he didn’t overthink things to the point of agony, he wouldn’t be the same person.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk deflects away from the topic, but Rose won’t press. Dirk needs time to think about her words and process them.</p><p>“Quite well.” She says, taking the change of topic and offering him a hand up. “I do believe two of my neighbors are plotting my murder while another three believe I am gunning to create a new system of power while instilling myself as a leader known as ‘The Raven Queen’.”</p><p>She laughs softly in amusement at both of the ideas.</p><p>“<span>I </span><em>do</em><span> wonder where they come up with these wild ideas.”</span></p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk uses the hand offered to haul himself to his feet, and heads into the kitchen. “That makes you sound like an old-old-old school dungeons and dragons larper,” he replies with a snort. “Although I bet you’d make an awesome death god. A decked out in goth chic- you already wear black lipstick.” He smirks. “All you’d need is a mantle of crow feathers. Those can be collected ethically. Though, I’m not sure about how sanitary that’d be.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose laughs again. “I think a good washing would be all they would require to be sanitary.” She says. “Now, let’s see what we can rustle up for dinner.”</p><p>It’s a light hearted evening, the two of them lightly trading friendly sibling quips at each other as they put together an easy dinner of pasta and vegetables.</p><p>
  <span>As they settle in to eat, Rose tells Dirk all about her latest manuscript and updates him on the gossip she hears about the neighbors- and what of it is actually </span>
  <em>true</em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>Once dinner is over and dishes are cleared away, Rose gives her brother a choice.</p><p>“I am sure you must be tired- the trip from here to Skaia City is quite a ways, after all. Would you like to retire upstairs and rest? Or would you like to play a game of chess?”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Dirk listens attentively, giving input where needed but mostly staying quiet. Sometimes he needs to </span>
  <em>stop</em>
  <span> thinking and just pay attention to someone else for a while, and there’s rarely anyone worthier of that than Rose. She’s simply fascinating, always entertaining, always with a new story or a new opinion Dirk hasn’t heard.</span>
</p><p>He loves her. Dearly.</p><p>“I’d like to retire. Tomorrow sounds like a good time for chess, though.” He rises to his feet and gives Rose a hug. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He knows where the guest bedroom is, so he lets himself upstairs.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose hugs Dirk back and watches him go upstairs before settling into her study to read the evening away.</p><p>The rest of Dirk’s visit is relaxing, the two siblings spending the time catching up and taking relaxing little day trips around Derse to visit different stores and a cafe or two.</p><p>But, as all things do, Dirk’s visit came to an end.</p><p>“I do hope you will take care.” Rose says as she gives Dirk a hug, standing in her foyer. “If you ever need your ass pulled out of the fire, dear brother, all you have to do is send me a message.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Dirk spends the next two days thinking about Hal. About their situation. About what boundaries Dirk wants to set with him. About what boundaries Hal might want to set- if Hal will even admit he wants to set any. That’s a bit of maneuvering that Dirk is still uncertain about, and he spends a good deal of time thinking about that, too.</p><p>
  <span>He also makes something for Hal. He </span>
  <em>hopes</em>
  <span> Hal will like it. Hal might also hate it, and break things off entirely. Dirk hopes it’s the former, but the pessimist in him says it’ll be the latter. He won’t know until he reveals it, though.</span>
</p><p>“<span><span>Of course. If I need anything, I promise, I’ll come to you.” He doubts he’ll be able to send a message that isn’t seen by Hal, but… This is the reality of the city he lives in now.</span></span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Dirk is played by butthulu.<br/>Hal is played by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/LPSunnyBunny">@LPSunnyBunny</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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